Home invasion is a frightening, but real possibility. Often home invasions occur at night when a homeowner(s) is asleep. For this reason, homeowners feel the need to keep means of defensive protection, such as a firearm, Taser, stun gun, or the like, near the place where they sleep. Occasionally, a handgun will be stored underneath a pillow or a mattress, in a nightstand, or some other place where the handgun can be quickly accessed. However, such places are not designed for storing a handgun. Such improvised storage locations are often unsafe. For example, a handgun stored in a drawer of a nightstand may become mixed in with other clutter in the drawer and, while looking for something at night, accidently discharge the handgun. The homeowner also may not be able to quickly retrieve the handgun in an emergency, especially when awoken suddenly in the middle of the night. For example, a handgun stored under the mattress requires lifting a heaving mattress and finding the handgun, which may have shifted around over time.
Further complicating matters is whether to keep the handgun loaded with ammunition. On one hand, because the homeowner may need the handgun at a moment's notice during a break-in, the homeowner will store the handgun loaded. On the other hand, due to the inherent safety risks associated with a loaded handgun, the handgun will be stored unloaded. In this case, the homeowner must then spend time searching for and loading ammunition when the handgun is needed, often in the dark.
Accordingly, what is needed is a safe and reliable apparatus for storing and retrieving a handgun proximate to where a homeowner(s) sleeps. It would be desirable if such an apparatus could also be used to safely and reliably transport the handgun.